Car sales tumble as two-wheelers continue their upwards march in A

Published: Thursday, September 11, 2008, 15:05 [IST]

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New Delhi, Sept 11 (UNI) The rough patch for the indigenous automobile sector hardly seems to be over with Domestic car sales tumbling for the second consecutive month in almost three years with sales for August declining by 4.36 per cent whereas motorcycles continued their upward march registering a 15.9 per cent growth.

According to the figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), domestic passenger car sales in August stood at 94,584 units as against 98,893 units in the same month last year.

Despite Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) clocking impressive growth numbers, the other two major players of the great Indian Auto League namely Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) and Tata Motors registered negative growths.

MSI had witnessed a decline of 10.07 per cent in August at 46,811 units as against 52,055 units in the same month last year. On the other hand the sales figure for Tata Motors also saw dip of 10.10 per cent at 12,216 units as compared to 13,588 units in the same month August last year.

It seems yet so near but too far especially for the Tata Motors whose 'Dream Car' 'Nano's' future is in doldrums with the agitation continuing in West Bengal.

HMIL on the other hand, riding on the back of its new hatchback i10, managed an impressive growth of 34.08 per cent at 21,607 units as against 16,115 units in the same month last year, SIAM added.

The decline in domestic sales was on the expected lines after July performance as the car market is yet to come to terms with the financing crunch and high interest rates being witnessed in the sector.

However with festive season round the corner and companies rolling out new products from their stable , sales are likely to receive a boost up in the coming months.

Motorcycles sales, on the other hand were altogether singing a different tune with sales moving up by 15.9 per cent at 4,85,294 units as against 4,18,702 units in the corresponding month a year ago.

Market leader Hero Honda almost single handedly pulled up bike sales registering a 28.53 per cent jump at 2,84,752 units in August as against 2,21,541 units in the same month last year.